


the only branch i'll never break

by pinkmilkshake



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort/Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 04:18:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4465193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkmilkshake/pseuds/pinkmilkshake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You don't need to protect me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	the only branch i'll never break

Roxas waited until the door clicked closed behind him before marching forward. He approached Naminé where she sat on the window sill, his eyes boring into the aching red mark on her face. The meeting had adjourned several minutes prior, but the stinging still felt fresh--to him, at least.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

Naminé aside her drawing pad and pencils before standing, as if slow, steady movements would help to soften down Roxas' temper. She regarded him silently as he sighed in frustration.

"I'm sorry," he said after tearing his eyes away from her. "I shouldn't have yelled. I—"

Naminé cut him off. "Don't apologize. I know… I know you're capable of looking out for yourself--or rather, you _think_ you are, but..." She draws in a breath, gathering herself. "Roxas, I'm sorry for undermining you, but… you don’t know the Organization like I do."

"They wouldn’t have done anything to me," Roxas said. He stepped closer and reached out, fingers curling around her hand. Naminé hated the feel of his leather gloves—they were just like Marluxia's, Larxene's, everyone else's in the Organization—but the warmth beneath the material was unique to Roxas. It came as a comfort.

"They need the Keyblade, right? So, the most they'll do is—I dunno—give me extra chores or something."

Naminé looked down and shook her head, her overgrown fringe sweeping over her eyes.

"No, Roxas…" Naminé covered his hand with hers, gripping tightly, trying to make him grasp the urgency of it all. It was true that Roxas was the newest member, but how was it that he still understood so little about the Organization? The others may keep him in the dark, but after everything he has seen, after everything Naminé has told him, he was still so naive about the Organization and the lengths they will go to to reach their objectives.

She turned back to him, eyes sharp and intense despite the tears blurring the edges. "You can't openly disagree with them like you did. If you become too much of a problem for them, they _will_ find another way to obtain a Keyblade. Or they’ll lock you up, or—"

Mid-sentence her throat ran dry. She tried to keep her gaze steady, but she quickly gave in to the stinging in her eyes and squeezed them shut, turning away once more.

"Or they'll use you against me," Roxas finished. He shifted, moving both of their hands between them and threading their fingers together. "You don't have to do what they say, Naminé."

An exasperated sigh escaped Naminé before she could help it. This conversation had taken place countless times before, but like any of the sore spots he received from fighting Heartless or wrestling with Axel, Roxas would not stop prodding the subject.

"Yes, I do, Roxas," Naminé said. She pulled away from him completely, fingers slipping away from his grip, and walked to the opposite end of her room.

The wall she came to was bare; she hadn't hung any drawings on it yet. Lately all she drew was Roxas—to the point that her black and gold pencils were but stubs—though she couldn't hang them up. Not until she drew something else to divert suspicion; she and Roxas both were under constant scrutiny by the Organization. Likely, it was already well-known how close the two of them were, but Naminé could at least pretend that it was their own secret, that it wasn't a loaded gun the Organization was ready to pull the trigger on at any moment.

Behind her, Naminé could hear the pull of leather—Roxas clenching his fists, no doubt.

" _No_ , you _don't_." His voice was quiet, but it was angrier, heavier than it was earlier when he'd shouted. If she didn't know better, she would be genuinely frightened of how he sounded now. "Why to you obey them? Why do you put up with everything they do to you? You're just like me—without you, they can't do whatever crazy thing it is they want to do."

"You don't understand, Roxas!" She whipped around to face him. It was rare for Naminé to raise her voice; it caught Roxas off-guard, and perhaps now he was finally starting to realize the gravity of their circumstances. "It doesn't matter how much they need us—they have _all_ the power! They can make things a thousand times worse for us because we depend on them as much as they do us—if not more."

"That isn't true—"

"Where would we go, Roxas?" Naminé continued, overwhelmed and frantic. She had always been able to speak more freely with Roxas than anyone else, but now the words were pouring out of her like floodwater. "If we just up and left, where would we go? The Organization has dozens of worlds monitored, and they're expanding everyday. All we have ever known is the Organization, and they make sure it stays that way. Without them, Roxas, we have _nothing_."

During her blustering, Naminé had moved back, and was now pressed against the bare wall she had been considering earlier. Roxas hadn't moved from his spot, frozen by her words.

"That's… You're right. You're right, Naminé." Roxas made to move towards her, but faltered. What had once come naturally to them was suddenly maladroit and unknown. For the first time since they had met, since both of them had come into existence, they were unsure of how to approach one another. At that moment, words were a greater struggle than either ever knew they could be; what was rushing from Naminé just seconds ago was now sealed up, and Roxas' voice was harsh and strained. "But I can't—I refuse to think that there isn't any hope. There has to be a way, we just have to find it."

Naminé shook her head, her desperation revealing itself.

"I can't have any hope, Roxas," she said. They were both pulling, and the fact that neither refuse to give in was more agonizing than disagreeing in the first place. "'Hope' isn't 'certainty', and I'm not brave enough anymore to take that chance."

"But you're brave enough to stay here? With them? Even with everything that they do to you?"

Moments passed. They continued to pull.

"Yes," Naminé answered finally. She felt hardened and vulnerable all at once. Roxas knew the truth already, but perhaps saying it aloud would make him believe it. "Because here, I know what to expect. Here, I can make sure things don't become worse."

Roxas closed the gap between them. The tension did not slacken, but seemed to grow more rigid and taunt. "You don't need to protect me, Naminé," Roxas said. He looked as hurt as she felt. "Especially like this."

He was filling the entirety of Naminé’s vision; she could not look away. "I don't know how to do anything else. I don't know what what will _happen_ if I do anything else."

"Then let me protect you, too," Roxas said. He tucked the locks of hair framing Naminé's face behind her ear. "No more of this one-sided stuff—We're going to do things differently. We're going to show them just how strong we are. Together."

Tremors had overtaken Naminé. She gasped for air she didn't realize she needed, and pressed her face into Roxas' chest, ignoring the sickening feeling of leather against her skin and the tenderness of her bruised cheek.

"I'm too scared. I'm too scared," she repeated over and over again. Roxas folded his arms over her, breathing out the tightness in his lungs.

"It's okay. We'll figure it out."

**Author's Note:**

> 358/2 Days never happened, okay? okay.
> 
> a response to one of those prompt memes. title from Ellie Goulding's "Hold My Breath".


End file.
